Disinfo: EU only interested in meat prices, not poverty, unemployment or terrorism

Summary

The EU has found a new enemy at last. Now all the forces in Brussels will pull all efforts to fight meat. Of course, it is a more important problem in Europe than poverty, unemployment, crime and even terrorism.

Disproof

The statement is untrue and aims at portraying EU as a country not caring about important social or political issues.

The disinformation message appeared in the background of a recently published report by the True Animal Protein Price Coalition, which was presented at the beginning of February in the European Parliament. The report urges the EU to adopt a meat tax to tackle climate emergency. Many European lawmakers backed the report calling for a new meat pricing model to be included in the European Green Deal and the EU’s new food policy, the Farm to Fork Strategy. The proposal, however, is still on the discussion stage.

Poverty reduction is a key policy component of the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs. As statistics show, the number of people at poverty or social inclusion is constantly decreasing since 2012. 2020 goal for the EU is to reach 96.1 million. In the period between 2002 and 2018, the unemployment rate for the total population aged 15-74 decreased by 2.2 percentage points (p.p.) in the, back then, EU-28, from 9.0 % to 6.8 %.

As for terrorism, the EU has adopted an EU counter-terrorism strategy back in 2005. EU considers terrorism as one of the main threats to its freedom and security. Following the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack, the Commission established European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) to improve the exchange of information and the operational support to Member States' investigators. The Commission also runs Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN). The key focus goes on countering the financing of terrorism, protection of critical infrastructure, security research projects, etc. See more on EU counter-terrorism efforts here.

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sputnik-georgia.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 185
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 11/02/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Belgium
  • Keywords: EU regulations
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Disinfo: Coronavirus was created on purpose, probably by the same British lab which poisoned the Skripals

There is evidence that the coronavirus was created on purpose. First of all, both the US and the UK have announced the existence of a vaccine. But any expert knows that it’s not possible to create a vaccine against a virus, which was never seen before. In UK the Porton Down laboratory, a quite well known organisation which has been dealing with chemical and biological weapons for a long time has said they already have the vaccine. According to media, they have patented it already one year ago!

This is the same organisation which put the poison on the Skripals’ door handle. Probably they put something also over the city of Wuhan, Hubei province, for example, on the door handle of the subway, or rather not the door handle but this one [thing, object] which is being touched by thousands of people. Unfortunately, we can’t exclude such a situation. It can be an act of biological sabotage, it might have been carried out not by a State, for example, the US, but by certain private corporations. The appearance of such beneficiaries able to go on market already tomorrow with an already made vaccine is a not direct proof of that.

Feb 10, 2020
Disproof

The statement has no supporting evidence and is another example of conspiracy narratives on a plot against China, profitable to the US; on the UK which invented coronavirus. See more examples of groundless statements about the coronavirus here.

The current coronavirus (2019-nCoV) comes from a family of viruses that include other viruses such as SARS and MERS. It was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in central China and has been rapidly spreading with new cases being reported in the Asia-Pacific region as well as Europe, North America and the Middle East, causing more than 700 deaths by 10 February 2020.

Disinfo: New Ukrainian labour law permits employees to be fired for no reason

A new labour law in Ukraine includes permission to fire anyone from work at any time and for any reason.

Feb 10, 2020
Disproof

This is another example of the Kremlin's ongoing disinformation campaign to portray Ukraine as a failed state, misrepresenting the essence of a proposed Ukrainian labour law by selectively and hyperbolically reporting only on one provision and omitting the remaining context.

In total, four draft labour laws are under consideration in the Ukrainian Parliament. The final version of the law in question is not yet set, as discussions in the Verkhovna Rada are still ongoing. However, Economy Minister Tymofiy Mylovanov explained that while the Labour Bill does refer to the possibility of dismissing an employee on the initiative of the employer, this must not happen without an explanation of the reason. Moreover, Mylovanov wrote on his Facebook page, current legislation offers no material protections for employees who have been dismissed: according to the current code, there are ten reasons to dismiss an employee, and an employer can do so without bearing any financial responsibility for this decision. Under the new Labour Law, however, material compensation for dismissed employees would be made mandatory, also to discourage the transformation of business enterprises under false pretences for the sake of staff reduction. For the relevant excerpt of the bill explaining these provisions, see here.

Disinfo: A law on slavery is being prepared in Ukraine

A new Labour Code is being prepared in Ukraine, but it’s better to call it a law on slavery. While civilised countries make sure that people work as productively as possible, that is, give less time to the employer, work efficiently and productively, and spend more time with family and children, only in Ukraine, they believe that people should work around the clock.

Feb 10, 2020
Disproof

Part of the recurring pro-Kremlin narrative showing Ukraine as a failed state.

In total, four draft labour laws are being considered in the Ukrainian Parliament. The final version of the law is not yet set, as discussions in the Verkhovna Rada are still ongoing. Still, 40 hours per week are left as basic working hours. For 16-18-year-olds, it is shorter by 4 hours. The right to a flexible work schedule is also granted with consent. Rest periods between work shifts should be at least 12 hours every 24 hours. There is no mention of round-the-clock work. The annual basic paid leave is granted for a period of 24 calendar days for each working year, which is counted from the date of the employment contract.